La Verne Explorer Is Cited for Bravery

Arnie Diaz of La Verne was sitting at home, watching television, when he heard the shots.

Then, the 21-year-old Los Angeles County Fire Department Explorer said, his training took over. He reacted just as he would have if he had been on duty. He got in his pickup truck and drove down the alley to the street. There he found two men struggling for a pistol and a woman trying to drag one man off the other. One man called for help, saying he was a police officer. Diaz saw the man’s empty holster and believed him. So he grabbed the pistol as well. “The man tried to point the gun toward the officer, so I used more force and pulled it into the officer’s hand,” Diaz said last week. Diaz said the officer rolled to the side with his gun and lay there exhausted while Diaz lay on the suspect until other police arrived.

“I didn’t even think about it,” Diaz said. “It didn’t hit me until later that it was dangerous.”

On Monday, the La Verne City Council commended Diaz for saving an off-duty reserve police officer from possible injury or death during the May 22 incident. Police refused to release the officer’s name.

La Verne Police Lt. Larry Smith said the dispute arose after another driver felt the officer cut him off and began threatening him. The officer stopped his car, a struggle developed, and the officer had his pistol knocked away from him. Both men attempted to retrieve the weapon and were struggling for it when Diaz arrived.

Smith said a Wichita, Kan., man has been charged with battery against a police officer.

At the ceremony, Police Chief Wesley Stearns cited Diaz for “courageous action on behalf of an officer in need.” Half-jokingly, Stearns offered Diaz an application to join the Police Department.

Diaz said he would cherish the commendation and was happy to have been in the right place at the right time. But he declined the offer, saying he plans to be a firefighter.